Apparatus for cleaning the hulls of ships.



'M.-MORTBN- APPARATUS POR GLEANINGVTHE HULLS OP SHIPS..

`APPLICATION FILED APR.'1.1907.

` Patented Apr. y2o, 1909.

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'FRANK M. MOETEN, or NORWOOD, OHIO.

APPARATUS FORvCLEANING THE I-IULLS OF SHIPS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 20, 1909.

` Apliiicanonnied April 1, 1907. seriaino. 365,668.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK M. MOETEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of Norwood, in the `countyofI-Iamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Cleaning the Hulls of Ships, of which the following is a specification. i

Ships at sea, especially in warm climates, or if on a long or continued voyage, gather on their hulls, below the water line, a foul foreign growth consisting of barnacles, mollusks, sea grass, fungus and such matter, and this growth impedes the speed of the ship; it must often"be removed and usually, to remove such foreign growth, it is necessary to place the vessel in dry dock and remove this foreign matter by hand, taking a great deal` of time, being very expensive and losing time for the vessel.

The object of my invention is to remove this growth by an apparatus or device, while the vessel is in the Water, saving time andy doing the work cheaply and satisfactorily.

My invention consists essentially in com-` bining in a unique and practical form a pick-A ing or striking device to remove the barnacles and mollusks, a cutting, shearing or scraping device for removing the' Vsea grass and'scum or foul matter off the hull,` in combination with a device for spreading oil over the cleaned surface, making it smooth and presenting to the water a hull for fastserviceZ the oil at'the same time proving objectionable` to the barnacles these various devices being'joined together with yielding or hingedjoints, so that the apparatus can and will accommo-` date itself to the varying contour of the ships hull; the entire apparatus being held up against the sides and ated through a cable attached to the deck, the whole run by water motors and Water power. j

The apparatus is simplein construction, cheap of manufacture and eicient in use. In the accompanying drawing Vforming part of this speciication,-Figi`1re 1 is -a view in elevation of the 'endof a shi pl with my device attached. Fig.- 2 is a side view'of my a paratus, partly in section.. Fig. '3 isa p an view thereof, andv Fig.y 4- a detached viewk showing `the face of the oil` spreading device. The apparatus consists of three'airtight' chambers 1, 2 and 3. Each chamber is pro- Ottom ofthe hullV by a series of buoyancy chambers and operi vided with eyes or ears 4, which when in line and contiguous position allow a rod as 5 to pass through them, making a hinge connection, so that the chambers can adjust themselves to the various positions required in passing over the hull of the ship.

At the outer end of the buoyancy chambers 1 and 3is located a revolving frame 6 journaled in brackets 7 on a shaft 8'. On this krevolving frame 6 are located two sets of pickers or strikers 9 and two sets of knives, cutters or Scrapers 10, which extend all the way'across theframe 6, the pickers 9 only being used at intervals as shown. I preferably alternate the pickers 9 and knives 10 on which I place sprocket wheels, over which sprocket chains 14 pass and at the opposite i ends the chains 14 pass over the sprocket' j wheels'll.

Water motors V15, 16 and 17 are provided and ,shafts 12 pass through the motors '15 and 17, the centralmotor 16 having a shaft 18 j Ournaled in top and bottom 19 and 19 of the buoyancy chamber 2 (see Fig. 2), the journals being marked 38. The chambersl and g3 are also supported by braces 20. y

i VOn the chamber 2, I connect in any suitable manner a hollow ipe or piece 25 in which are journaled by horlow shafts 24, 24, oil spreaders21 and 23, the spreader 22 being journaled on shaft 18 of the water motor 16. Theseshafts 24 and 18 are hollow, the same as Piece 25, so that oil can flow freely through them. These shafts lead to the face of the spreaders. `The faces of the spreaders are each; provided withva series of grooves or concaved shaped gutters 26 through which the oil flows to be spread;` At `their peripheries, these spreaders 21, 22 and 23 carry teeth 27, which mesh,V with eachother, so that they will all revolve to spread the oil.

f A water pipe28A of flexible material reaches from the deck to the apparatus. Y- This pipe L28 enters the water motor 17 at 29, the wa- -ter 'motor 16 at 30 and the water motor 15 at points 32, the water isforced through the motors 15, 16 and 17 by means of a forcek pump (notshown) on fdeck,forcing thewater through pipe23.,l Thejvoil is transmittedfromy deckthroughaflexible pipe 33 to the hollow piece 25 and through this piece flows through the hollow shafts in the spreaders 21, 22 and 23 to their face and finally into the grooves 26 to be spread upon the hull of the vessel.

On the deck 34 of the ship 35, I place windlasses 36, 36, a cable 37 passing around underneath the ship and from one windlass te the one on the opposite side of the deck, the apparatus being connected in any convenient and practical manner to said cable.

The device operates as follows, to-wit:

The apparatus is attached to a cable 37,

whichy is wound on or olf of the windlasses 36, 36, according to the side of the ship on which the apparatus is at work. By winding the cable 37, the apparatus is pulled over the face of the ship s hull, the cable and the buoyancy chambers 1, 2 and 3 keeping it up against .the ship and the hinge connection 4 and 5 between said chambers 1, 2 and 3 allowing of said apparatus to hug and conform to the exact contour of the ships hull so that the apparatus will at all times be so close to the ships hull t0 do efficient work and still net mar the ship, the braces 2O keeping the device from working too close to the hull. Water is then forced from deck by a pump (not shown) through pipe 28 and by it delivered to the water motors 15, 16, and 17 which motors operate shafts 12, 12, and 18 and motion is thus imparted by shafts 12, 12,

to sprocket chain 14 which imparts motion to shafts 8, 8', passing over the sprocket wheels 11, thus the pickers and cutters 9 and ll() are revolved to strike the barnacles olf the ships hull and to remove the sea grass and other matter; at the same time shaft 18 revolves the oil spreader 22 and its teeth 27 mesh with the teeth 27 on oil spreaders 21 and 23 thus imparting motion to them, the oil having'been pumped (or allowed t0 flow by gravity) through pipe 33 to the hollow piece 25 and through it to hollow shafts 18, 24 and 24, the oil filling the groves 26 in the spreaders, the revolving motion of the spreaders thoroughly, evenly and efiiciently spreads the oil over the ships hull; of course while all these motions and manipu-V lations are in progress, the device is itself moving over the face of the hull by the operator winding on the cable 37, and when one part or space is cleaned another is commenced until the entire ship is cleaned.

It will be seen that the device operates on either side of the ship without reversal, as it works the same from both ends, as, working from either end I rst strike the barnacles with my pickers or strikers 9 and then follow this up with theV cutters or Scrapers 10 which remove the sea grass and foul matter and scrape the hull clean and the alternate arrangement of these pickers and Scrapers work in unison to remove all the barnacles, Sea grass' and other matter, nothing of a foreign nature on the ships hull escaping their workand this scraping and cleaning is fol lowed by giving the hull a coat of oil, which is done efficiently and uniformly; so that, by this simple, unique and practical arrangement, when the device reaches either side of the ship on its cleansing tour, it need only be slid over laterally, so that a new path may be cut, cleaned and oiled simultaneously.

It will be readily seen that this device will quickly and thoroughly clean the hull of the ship and de it when the vessel is in the water. I prefer to have the vessel quiet and al a stand, but can use it, il' necessary, when the L vessel is in motion and. this may be found necessary when the ship is on a protracted voyage.

It will readily be seen that this combined. combination of strikers, cutters and oil spreaders coact and operate to cleanse the ship as well as it can be done by human agency. Of course the water and oil may be transmitted to the apparatus in any other manner than herein specifically set forth and the apparatus may be moved over the face of the ships hull in any other manner.

Motors other than those herein set forth may be used to operate the pickers, cutters and oil spreaders and if desired they may be placed on the deck or on an auxiliary raft or small boat.

The buoyancy chambers may be made of any shape, size or contour and of any material.

If desired the apparatus may be made of one elongated buoyancy chamber and the various cleaning devices attached in some desirable manner.

I may employ as many pickers, cutters and oil spreaders as will be found desirable and eflicient.

The buoyancy chambers may be connected together, so as to conform to the contour of the ships hull in any other manner than herein shown and described.

The aiekers, cutters and oil spreaders may be ma e of any shape and size and the oil may be spread on the ship in any other desired manner by the spreaders.

What I claim as new and of my invention and desire to secure by Letters Iatent is 1- 1. In an apparatus for cleaning the hulls of ships, a series of buoyancy chambers lying contiguous to one another, said buoyancy chambers loosely connected together, a series of pickers and scrapers, said pickers and Scrapers connectedv to the end buoyancy chambers, oil spreaders, said oil spreaders connected to the central buoywmeychamber,

motors for operating said pickers, Scrapers and oil spreaders, and connecting parts, all operating as set forth.

2. In an apparatus for cleaning' the hulls of ships, a series of buoyancy chambers lying 'contiguous to one another, Said buoyancy chambers loosely connected together, a Series of pickers and Scrapers, said pickers and Sora ers connected to a revolving frame, Said revo ving frame connected to the buoyancy chambers at each end of the apparatus, oil

Spreaders, Said oil Spreaders connected to the central buoyancy chamber, motors for operating Sald pickers, Scrapers and oil spreaders, and connecting parts, all com-V bined and operating as Set forth.

3. In an a paratus for cleaning the hulls 'of ships, pic ers and Scrapers, said pickers and Scrapers mounted on a revolving frame, oil spreadersmecnan1s1n for operating said 4. In an apparatus for cleaning the hulls j of ships, pickers, Scrapers, Said pickers and Scrapers mounted on a revolving1 frame, o1l

' forth.

Spreaders, said oil spreaders revolving to spread the oil, in combination With means located between said revolving frame and the oil spreaders, to allow said parts to move and adjust themselves to the contour of the ships hull, as Set forth.

5. In an ap aratus for cleaning the hulls of ships, revoIving mechanism for cutting and scraping off the foreign matter from the hull, in combination with oil spreading mechanism, oil and Water pi es connected to said mechanism, and a cab e for supporting the same, combined and operating as set forth.

6. In an apparatus for cleaning the hulls of Ships, means for removing the foreign matter from the hull, means for spreading oil on said hull, said means loosely connected together to permit of automatic adjustment to the contour of the hull, and connecting parts, all operating and combined as set FRANK M. MoRTN.

Witnesses HENRYl BAER, H.V E. OARSTENS. 

